Thrown Away
by xXxunbreakablegirlXx
Summary: Thrown away by her only living relative, TaraLynn Raine ends up in England, in front of a speeding car! This is just the prologue, more coming! Summaries are hard, R&R it please!


FINALLY!! Stupid waiting period.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the people around him (sad, huh?) but I DO own Tara-Lynn Raine, and the story itself. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.

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Prologue

Tara-Lynn tried to stand up, but her ribs were badly bruised, and her legs wouldn't hold her. This had been a bad day, and it just might get worse. Her cousin had gained control over her families' home years ago, and he was a cruel man. The only thing that seemed to make him happy was watching his cousin suffer. She was, after all, the true heir to the family fortune and the one who should have been in charge. But he'd gotten the power, the money and the huge manor house some way, and just to be extra mean, he kept his cousin Tara-Lynn as a servant, beating her almost daily.

Tara-Lynn was alone in her room, struggling to get up off the floor she was forced to sleep on. Beneath the bruises and ragged clothes, she was stunningly beautiful, even at 14 years old. Her wide luminous eyes were a silver blue-grey most of the time, but in the dark they looked almost black, and when she was truly angry, they seemed to pulse with red. She had a strong chin and a cute little nose that was straight as could be. Her long wavy tresses were dark blonde, and her figure was very mature for her age, with a curve here and there that would have looked good on a model, but not one of the twiggy ones.

As she struggled to her feet, she wept quietly, knowing that she had to get out there and start cleaning. Maybe if she could do it just right, she could stay out of her evil cousin's way and he wouldn't even see her. Then he couldn't beat her, and tell her about how this house might have been hers, but she was too stupid and young and he had to take it from her, legally and everything. So she finally stood, took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

As she went through the huge place, sweeping, dusting, running the vacuum, she hummed quietly to herself. She didn't know it, but her singing voice was almost magical in its beauty. Anyone who heard it would have instantly come to her side, wishing only to help. Anyone, that is, except her cousin.

He heard her singing as he passed the room that she was in and decided to go mess with her a bit. He flung open the door and stormed in, yelling.

"How can I think with you making all that noise!" he screamed, and smacked her upside the head with a stinging blow.

Tara-Lynn surpressed her rage and kept her eyes down. "I didn't know you were nearby, cousin Stuart. I'll be quieter now."

For no reason, this just made him madder. He wanted to break her, but she was already broken, or at least acting like it. That took all his fun away, so he punched her in the stomach, knocking her back. "You should be completely silent, in fact, never speak again!"

"That's not fair!" Tara-Lynn yelled, finally looking him in the face.

"You'll do what I tell you to or I'll banish you from this house and this property for the rest of you life!" He raged.

"But, this house – this is where my mother lived! You can't make me leave my father's house, or the land where my parents are buried!" She was angry now, and little sparks were literally flying from her eyes.

"I can and I will you ungrateful little brat! But maybe I'll just beat you till you can't move, THEN throw you out the front gate! How would you like that?!!!" He screamed. He stalked towards her and raised his fists.

Tara-Lynn cringed back, squeezing her eyes tight shut, wishing she were anywhere else, anywhere safe, and she waited for the blow to fall.

But it didn't. All she felt was a strange _whooooosh_ and then she felt rain on her head. She also heard the sound of a car, and there was the bright glare of headlights.

_Honkhonkhonk!!! _And the screech of tires filled her ears but she was too surprised to turn away. Luckily, the car stopped in time, only a couple of inches from her leg. She was also surprised to see that the driver seemed to be on the wrong side of the car, and the wrong side of the road before she fainted with shock.

She woke up in the passenger seat of a car, but it was on the wrong side. For a second she thought she'd fallen asleep while driving and freaked out.

"It's okay, calm down, your safe now!" Said a voice next to her. It sounded like a kind voice, but it had a British accent, and Tara-Lynn wasn't able to make sense of what had happened.

"D-did I get h-hit by a car?" Tara-Lynn stammered, staring wildly around.

"No, no, but you must have been so frightened, that you fainted dead away." The driver wasn't looking at her, concentrating on the rain-wet road, so Tara-Lynn studied him. He was an average looking man with a balding head, but the hair he still had was flaming red. His clothes were very strange, as he was wearing what looked like a pajama top over denim overalls under his bright yellow raincoat.

The driver glanced at her, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. His eyes widened a bit as he took in her gorgeous face. He noted the bruises and said, "You look like you've had a rough time of it. Were you running away from home?"

"Home…" Tara-Lynn said, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I guess you could say that, but where am I now?"

"I don't know the Muggle- I mean the official name of the road, but it leads to my house after a few more miles. I promise you you'll be quite safe there, and we can get you some help, maybe?" He kept glancing at her, as if he didn't want to look away, and wouldn't if he hadn't been driving.

"Did you say 'Muggle'?" Tara-Lynn asked.

The red-haired man seemed to blush. "I may have, by accident. Why do you ask?"

Tara-Lynn shrugged. "It's a word I heard my mother use a lot, just before she died. She talked a lot about Muggle doctors, and how they weren't any good and couldn't save her from her illness." Tara-Lynn's face fell, and her tears welled up with sadness.

"Mmm." Said the man. "Mmm. That makes a bit of a difference, then." He looked around at the road, then pulled to the side and stopped the car. "Do you mind terribly waiting here in the car for a moment?" He stammered and hemmed for a moment, then said, "I have to, uh, step outside, uh, and do … something."

Tara-Lynn looked at him like he was crazy, but she nodded. If he needed a bathroom break, he could have just said so. "I'll stay here then, okay?"

He beamed at her. "Good girl. Won't be long, I promise!" And he scampered out into the pouring rain.

Tara-Lynn waited in the thrumming car, listening to the rain. She poked a finger at her tender ribs, testing the pain of the bruises. They'd probably be all better by morning, but it might take a full day more for the cartilage tear to heal fully. She'd always been a fast healer, which was handy when you were getting beaten daily and never allowed to go to a doctor.

Outside the car, she could have sworn there had been two loud CRACK! noises, but they'd been gone so quickly, they might have just been thunder.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and the red-haired man clambered back into the car. "All right then, we'll be going along to my home then, shall we?" He was grinning, obviously very pleased about something.

Tara-Lynn arched her eyebrow, wondering what about his pee-break had made him so happy, but decided not to worry about it. "Do you live alone?"

"Oh, no, no indeed. I've got my wife and three sons living there, and my youngest daughter. You'll like them, I promise!"

Tara-Lynn didn't say anything, but she certainly hoped they would like her. It had been a long day, and so much had happened, she dozed off in the car the rest of the way to the strange man's home.

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NEXT CHAPTER: The Weasleys (duh!) all meet Tara-Lynn, and Dumbledore has to figure out how Tara-Lynn will get a full education! (It's a SECRET! SHhh!)

So there it is, my very first HP fanfic! Well, technically it's the first chapter. If I get lots of reviews, maybe I'll write more, muahahaha! Altho I may write more, just because what else am I gonna do when I'm all caffeinated? WOOO-HOOOOO! Ahem. Sorry bout that. PLEASE review, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't flame, for I am flammable, and just might combust at you! So there.


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